1. HSBC lowers India’s CAD forecast for FY’14 to 3.4%
i. Global financial
services major HSBC today lowered India’s current account deficit (CAD)
forecast for this financial year to 3.4 per cent of GDP from 4.1 per cent
earlier.
ii. HSBC said the
country’s CAD is at an unsustainable level, and expected to gradually decline
in the coming years and in 2014-15, it is likely to be at 3.2 per cent of GDP.
iii. HSBC’s CAD
projections factored the increase in imports during the festive season and rise
in coal imports to help meet demand from power plants in the coming months.
iv. In the next fiscal
year, FY15, we expect the deficit to hold broadly steady in nominal terms and
decline to 3.2 per cent of GDP.
v. CAD, the
difference between inflow and outflow of foreign exchange, had declined to 3.6
per cent in the January-March quarter after touching a record high of 6.5 per
cent in the October-December quarter.
2. Now, open an Axis Bank account using Aadhaar card
i. The Unique
Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is going ahead and launching new
services even as the decision on whether the Aadhaar card is mandatory for
getting government subsidies is pending before the Supreme Court.
ii. In a new
initiative, Axis Bank entered into a tie up with the UIDAI that will enable the
bank to open accounts by using the 12-digit Aadhaar number of the customer.
iii. The bank will fulfill
the Reserve Bank of India’s norms on know-your-customer verification
electronically (e-KYC) by using the biometric data of the customer.
iv. The fingerprints,
once scanned at the bank’s biometric device, will enable the bank to collect
data such as name, address and telephone number of the customer electronically
from the UIDAI.
3. SC-appointed probe panel invites information on
Meiyappan
i. The committee probing
the Indian Premier League (IPL)
spot-fixing episode sought information from the public regarding allegations of
betting against Gurunath Meiyappan and the other accused in the scandal on
Thursday.
ii. The Supreme Court
appointed committee, headed by former Punjab and Haryana High Court Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and
including Additional Solicitor General
L. Nageshwar Rao and senior advocate Nilay Dutta, had its first meeting on
Thursday after being appointed early this month.
iii. The committee
decided on the schedule of meetings after “perusal” of the Supreme Court order.
iv. The committee is
investigating charges of betting and spot-fixing in the IPL matches against
Meiyappan, son-in-law of Board president N. Srinivasan and allegedly the team
principal of Chennai Super Kings, the accused players and the team owner of
Rajasthan Royals.
4. Oltmans to be named High Performance Director
i. The Government of
India will appoint Hockey India’s Director High Performance Roelant Oltmans as
Chief Coordinator and High Performance
Director for Indian Hockey.
ii. He is all set to be
appointed till Rio Olympics 2016 keeping in view all the major events taking
place in the next three years.
iii. Oltmans was firstly
hired by Hockey India (HI) as Director High Performance in January this year as
part of its plan to further professionalise the sport of hockey.
iv. The former Dutch
coach, who worked with the Dutch Olympic Committee as its Performance Manager
for Elite Sports, is also an International Hockey Federation (FIH) Master
Coach. Oltmans is also the chief coach with the Uttar Pradesh Wizards for the
Hero Hockey India League.
5. Simona Halep won Kremlin Tennis Cup 2013
i. Simona
Halep of Romania defeated Samantha Stosur of Australia 7-6 (1), 6-2 to win the
Kremlin Cup on 20 October 2013 at Moscow, Russia. It was the fifth WTA singles
championship for Simona Halep.
ii. Simona Halep of
Romania defeated Samantha Stosur of Australia 7-6 (1), 6-2 to win the Kremlin
Cup on 20 October 2013 at Moscow, Russia. It was the fifth WTA singles
championship for Simona Halep.
iii. Simona Halep (born
on 27 September 1991) is Romanian professional tennis player and the currently
ranked no. 14 in the WTA singles Rankings.
Note: In men’s singles,
top-seeded Richard Gasquet of France defeated Mikhail Kukushkin
of Kazakhstan 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the Kremlin Cup. It was the 10th
WTA singles championship for Richard Gasquet.
6. Shah Rukh Khan Appointed as the Goodwill Ambassador
for South Korea
i. Shah Rukh
Khan, the Bollywood actor, was on 23 October 2013 appointed
as the goodwill ambassador for South Korea. He was appointed as the public diplomat as well as an
ambassador of India’s soft power.
ii. Shah Rukh Khan will visit South Korea before the maiden visit
to The President of South Korea- Park Geun-hye.
iii. Shah Rukh Khan was
also invited by the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on his first visit to
India at the formal dinner with the prime minister.
Note: It is important to note
that India and South Korea have signed a civil
nuclear agreement already but it is still not operational.
ii. In the year 2008, Shah Rukh Khan was given the title of
Datuk, which is equivalent to the British Knighthood. This title was given to
him by the Governor of Malaysia’s southern Malacca state, Mohamad Khalil Yaacob
7.
Mukesh Ambani remains richest Indian
with assets of USD 18.9 billion
i. According to the China-based Hurun
India Rich List, Ambani retained the top position for the second year even
after a wealth decrease of 2 percent. Ambani is followed by London-based steel
baron LN Mittal with assets of USD 15.9 billion.
ii. Mittal's wealth declined 6 percent
from in 2012.
iii. Sun Pharmaceuticals' founder Dilip
Shanghvi broke into the top three for the first time with a 66 percent surge in
his wealth.
iv. "This rise in stock price was
supported by the expected sales of the cancer drug Doxil, following Janssen
Pharma Inc's admission of shortage of the drug supply," the report said.
v. Among others in the top 10 are:
Wipro's Azim Premji (4th) with assets of USD 12 billion, HCL Technology's Shiv
Nadar (5th, USD 8.6 billion), Grasim Industries' Kumar Mangalam Birla (6th, USD
8.4 billion), Godrej Group's Adi Godrej (7th, USD 8.1 billion).
8. British Sculptor Sir Anthony Caro Passed Away at 89
i. British
sculptor Sir Anthony Caro passed away on 23 October 2013. He was 89 years old.
He died after a heart attack.
ii. He was the renowned
British sculptor of his generation and also worked as the assistant to Henry
Moore in the 1950s.
iii. He
studied engineering at Christ's College Cambridge. Thereafter, she specialised
in sculpture at the Royal Academy Schools in London until 1952.
iv. In May 2000, he was
given the Order of Merit which recognises great achievement in the fields of
the arts, learning, literature and science. On
9 March 2004, he was elected as the Senior Member of the Royal Academy.
